The awkward ambivalence of January.

January sale, now on! Or is it?Unlike Marmite, which you famously “either love it or hate it,” the January transfer window is more of a “love and hate it” kind of affair.

We would all like to see improvements made to the squad, both in terms of quality and depth, and this window gives us the chance to do this. The drawback though is that it comes with the constant headache which is the talk of our top players leaving.

I find most supporters tend to find rumours of incoming players more believable than those of players leaving. Surely this is because we choose what we really want to believe? Good players will want to join Newcastle whilst our top players would never want to go anywhere, right?

With our recent return to the top flight, are we more vulnerable now to the possibility that our top players may look elsewhere to earn their wages? We are not as big a club as we once were, and it’s been a while since we finished in the top six, 2004 in fact. Or is there something in the Newcastle camp that players want to be a part of?

From what I’ve seen at the matches I’ve been to this season, there has been a real sense of commitment from the players and a will to fight for each other, but would this draw others player from other teams? Is it enough?

We can also look to the fact that when we suffered relegation from the Premier League, players like Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan all wanted to stick with us when, in my opinion, they could have found other clubs with relative ease. Why did they stay? Commitment? Attitude? Money? Guilt?

When we compare these lads to some of the players who left after our demise, like Habib Beye, Sebastian Bassong, Obefemi Martins and of course Michael Owen, none of these players have had the effect they would have hoped for at their new clubs, well maybe with the exception of Michael Owen who has always been happy to collect his wages for very little work!

The Newcastle players that stuck with is are having great seasons. Fabridio Coloccini has been solid at the back, Jose Enrique has been great both in defence and going foward, Captain Nolan has lead by example and weighed in with plenty of goals, including that memorable hat-trick against the unwashed. Last but certainly not least is Joey Barton, who definately is like marmite. For me he is the player of the season so far. He has broken up play well, scored a couple of goals and set up many more. His determination and drive on the pitch have been amazing and he shows great respect to the supporters and is always the last player to leave the pitch at full time.

Andy Carroll was, until this season anyway, a bit of an unknown quantity in the Premier League. Some believed that he could make it at the top whilst others were not so sure. I think those doubts have been put to rest now after the great season he’s had so far.

I don’t know about you, but when I see the lads play, I see lads that have the desire to play for our club and for each other and to fight tooth and nail to get results, not the free loaders of times gone by. It’s been great to see and hopefully this team spirit and apparent brotherhood will make players want to stay at our club and also convince players at other clubs that this is a club they should want to be a part of.

We can live in fear that the rumours surrounding Andy Carroll may turn out to be true, but these are rumours that we will have to get used to every transfer window while he’s a Newcastle player. Every time I see the words Carroll and Tottenham it’s makes my blood boil, yet when we are linked with decent players it gets the pulse racing.

So in an ideal world, quality will be added and not shipped out. I just hope that Mike Ashley can keep our glasses half full through this frustrating month of January.

I remember ziani being classed as algeria’s starlet in the wc. The thing that stood out to me was that he had a wicked cannon of a shot. But I also remember him being a bit of a cheating prat. We have to be careful with the kind of attitudes we bring in.
I’m not saying he won’t fit in with our squad, he might be a good lad. Just have that memory from watching.

Wow with all the injuries I wasn’t expecting that kind of line up. I think the lads really want to have a go at the cup. Saw a quote from Nolan earlier:
“We genuinely feel we have a good chance of winning the competition.

“I’d even argue that it’s our best route into Europe.

“Reaching Wembley is easier than staying eighth because you only have to win six games.

Lol really? Haven’t noticed 😉
My only concern is that the attitude of our squad is a big reason why we can beat anyone when the lads play well. It’s been a joy to watch. Miles better than what we had to put up with from previous squads.

Yeah..too many first teamers in there for my liking. Still if we get a comfortable lead we can sit them back down. About Barton to west ham-would be madness, if the wage bill needs cutting then smith/xisco and even colo, despite being our best defender, would be for the chop ahead of him..

After going to the Match yesterday with my so called mate i feel the Need to tell all what went on after the final whistle, i was standing with my mate who without any notice jumped over the hoardings and onto the Pitch and went straight for the Stevenage players, i see him swing a Punch at a stevenage Player the player collapsed to the floor, i doubt i’ll go to another FA Cup tie after this experiance, sorry>> “Batty” <<<but i have to name and shame YOU…….His excuse was he had a tenner on Stevenage to win 2-1